Memory Lane: Last Time the Vikings and Packers Hooked Up in the Playoffs

Let’s take a break from smooching Christian Ponder and instead skip our happy butts down memory lane for a bit. As you know Saturday’s playoff tilt in Lambeau will mark the second-ever postseason meeting between the Vikings and Packers. The first such showdown happened January 9, 2005. Many Viking fans will remember it well. And many Packer fans will wish they did not remember it at all.

The Vikes went into the game heavy underdogs, having barely squeaked into the playoffs with an 8-8 record. The Packers meanwhile were 10-6 and, though not big favorites for the Super Bowl, certainly considered more legit than the Vikes. But throw out the records when these two teams play. That was true then as well as now. The Vikings not only went into Lambeau and beat Green Bay, they crushed Green Bay.

The final score was 31-17 and there was nothing at all fluky about it. There were no lucky breaks. The Packers simply couldn’t handle the Vikings’ offense. They couldn’t cover Randy Moss. They couldn’t deal with Daunte Culpepper’s mobility. They couldn’t tackle Moe Williams. And when the Packers got down and Brett Favre went into gunslinger mode…well, it got ugly. Ugly to the tune of four interceptions. And which Viking DB had the first of the four picks? Antoine Winfield. Fun fact!

And here are some more bullets about that great day in Lambeau. And a video highlight reel straight off YouTube, featuring Paul Allen’s calls. And yes, the reel includes the most famous (or infamous) moment from the game. Randy Moss dropping a fake moon on drunk Packer fans. And they deserved every bit of it. So did Joe Buck.

• Randy Moss went into the game with a bum leg. And proceeded to burn Al Harris and Green Bay for 70 yards and 2 TDs. Not a big shock considering Randy’s lifelong domination of the Pack.
• Daunte Culpepper was the Vikings’ leading rusher with 54 yards.
• The Vikes dropped both regular season meetings to the Packers in 2004, losing both games by an identical 34-31 score. Favre threw 7 TD passes combined in the two games against one pick.
• The Vikes made the playoffs despite losing their last two games of the season. They went into the second Green Bay game at 8-6 and lost. Needing a win at Washington the final week of the season to guarantee a playoff berth, they lost. That was the infamous game where Randy Moss walked off the field before the final gun. The Vikes only made it into the playoffs because Carolina lost to the Rams, dropping to 7-9. Both wild cards teams that year, St. Louis and Minnesota, finished with 8-8 records. The 8-8 Saints lost out by virtue of head-to-head tiebreaker, having lost to the Vikes in week 6.
• How shocking was the Packers’ loss to the Vikings at Lambeau? Well let’s look at it for a second. Maybe it wasn’t so shocking. Both Vikings losses to the Packers that year were squeakers. And despite their reputation as a great home team, the Packers were only 4-4 at Lambeau in 2004. And of course we remember that it was only a couple years before that Michael Vick went into Lambeau and defeated the Packers after Green Bay ran the table at home in the regular season. The common thread between those two home playoff losses for Green Bay? Awful, turnover-filled Brett Favre performances.
• The Vikings followed up their stunning win by not-so-stunningly losing to Super Bowl-bound Philadelphia. Who of course were led by future Vikings QB Donovan McNabb. Both QBs the Vikes faced in the playoffs that year ended up becoming Vikings.
• The playoff win at Lambeau featured Randy Moss’ last TD catch as a Viking before being traded. He would be kept out of the end zone during his supposed final-ever Viking game at Philadelphia. Of course Moss would return in 2010 for a second stint and catch 2 more TDs. From Brett Favre.

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